Schumer vows to阻止 any Senate efforts to significantly cut CDC budget

New York (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has announced his determination to prevent a significant reduction to the budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He expressed serious concerns about the implications of such cuts on public health.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Schumer made it clear that he would block any legislation containing these proposed cuts from moving forward in the Senate.

The proposed plan, put forth in a House bill, includes a $1.8 billion reduction to the CDC’s budget, which equates to an alarming 22%. Schumer and other Democrats have warned that these cuts would undoubtedly endanger public health. Additionally, the Republican-led initiative would lead to substantial reductions in vital programs aimed at addressing issues such as firearm injuries and opioid overdoses.

This proposal was moved forward by the House Appropriations Committee in a party-line vote during the month of July.

Schumer emphasized the damaging consequences of such budget slashes, noting that they would “wreak havoc and chaos on food safety funding mechanisms and tracking operations at a core level.”

He spotlighted the CDC’s critical role in managing a listeria outbreak that has been traced back to Boar’s Head deli meats, resulting in at least three fatalities and over 40 illnesses.

“A 22% cut to the CDC at a time when there’s a listeria outbreak should turn all our stomachs,” Schumer remarked.

In response to the outbreak, Boar’s Head issued a recall of 7 million pounds of deli meats on July 30, extending a previous recall initiated on July 25. This decision followed the detection of listeria in a liverwurst sample collected by health authorities in Maryland. Furthermore, health officials in New York later confirmed that a liverwurst sample tested positive for the same strain of listeria.

The extensive recall affects more than 70 products, which include liverwurst, ham, beef salami, and bologna produced at the company’s facility in Jarratt, Virginia.

Schumer warned that if the proposed measure were to be enacted, the “overall food safety apparatus of the federal government could be put at risk.”

“It’s devastating,” he stated. “The Senate will not stand for them.” Schumer’s stance reflects a strong commitment to protecting public health in light of ongoing health crises.